Comments made by ladybike99

I worked in a SAP program for 3 years as a substance abuse counselor. Due to budget cuts in 2007 I went to work as a counselor for a community based Drug Court/Prop 36 program. The client's who fail out of the Drug Court program usually end up in prison where they can either learn how to become a better criminal or learn how to become a productive member of society. It has been my experience, that after working with inmates in a SAP program and then they transfer to a community based program, they become productive members of society. I see men who after 20 years of incarceration, become respectable members of society that make this world a better place to live. I was one of those lost souls addicted to drugs. I went from being a single mom who raised her son with out the help of welfare of child support to a homeless drug addict just wanting to die. I was blessed to enter into a 90 day residential program and then into sober living for 6 months and today I am a college graduate working with others to help them change how they think, to help them change how they act. I see men who were once in the SAP working in the community and giving back helping others, who were once a danger to society. Prison based treatment programs work, even for those who are mandated into program. If punishment worked then we would not have prison overcrowding.